Food appliance and a coding system therefor

ABSTRACT

A versatile food appliance includes a set of hardware components common to a plurality of single-purpose food appliances. The set of hardware components is controlled by a microcontroller executing a program from a repertoire thereof stored in the general-purpose food appliance. Many processing programs are stored for operating the appliance in different modes and for processing different kinds of food by using different ingredients. Each processing program is assigned a code and can be selected by specifying the code associated with it from a control panel. The programs may be further modified parametrically by a group of process parameters. Ingredients to be used in each of the programs may be in a premixed form in a package with the code optionally labeled thereon. The repertoire of programs is updatable by the user. In the preferred embodiment, a memory card interface allows updated programs to be introduced via a removable flash memory card.

This is a division of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/061,296, filedApr. 16, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,967,021, which is acontinuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/915,654,filed Aug. 21, 1997, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,794,521 which is a continuationof U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/346,432, filed Nov. 29, 1994, nowU.S. Pat. No. 5,704,277.

FIELD OF INVENTION

This invention relates to an improved food appliance and, moreparticular, to a versatile food appliance having a coding system forprogram-control and including features for program updates that can beeffected by an end-user.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

One embodiment of a food appliance in the form of a breadmaker withcoding system has been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,704,277. Theprogram-controlled machine operates according to one of a plurality ofprovided specified programs by receiving materials required in thespecified program such as ingredients of a selected kind of bread to bebaked.

Breadmakers of the type comprising a baking chamber containing anelectric heater at the bottom, a baking pan which is a container to beset inside the baking chamber for receiving ingredients therein, astirrer for stirring and kneading the ingredients inside the baking panand a motor for rotating the stirrer in a specified manner, have beenknown.

Breadmakers of the type storing a plurality of programs and allowing auser to select one of them for baking a desired kind of bread have alsobeen known. These programs generally include many complicated steps suchas mixing selected ingredients and controlling the baking temperature.With some prior art breadmakers, the user is required to read a cookbookcarefully to ascertain the necessary steps before setting an appropriateprogram.

Some breadmakers are preprogrammed, and the user has only to specify thedesired kind of bread to be baked, the breadmaker automatically carryingout the program associated with the specified kind of bread.

For allowing the user to specify the kind of bread to be baked, somebreadmakers are designed to display, as power is switched on, the typesof bread that can be specified. An indicator is initially displayed at adefault position, say, next to the name of the most commonly selectedkind of bread, and the user operates a SELECT button until the indicatormoves one position at a time to finally reach a position next to thedesired kind of bread.

Alternatively, the breadmaker may be provided with as many push buttonsas the number of different kinds of bread that can be baked thereby, andthe user is required to push the button corresponding to the desiredkind of bread. With prior art breadmakers, therefore, the number ofprograms from which the user can select one is limited because thescreen of the display device is not large and the control panel of themachine cannot accommodate too many buttons.

With prior art breadmakers, furthermore, the user must carefully add therequired ingredients such as flour, sugar, salt and yeast. In otherwords, prior art breadmakers are not energy-efficient and are difficultto use and the choice of different kinds of bread that can be bakedthereby cannot be increased significantly.

Prior art breadmakers and other program-controlled appliances have alimited set of preset programs they can operate on. That is, therepertoire of programs that can be executed by a breadmaker or a similarappliance is fixed at the factory. If a new recipe calls for a differentprocess, the user can at best approximate it by selecting the closestexisting preset program. In most cases, the user will have to purchasenewer models of the machine in order to have the newer features andprocesses.

Furthermore, prior art food processing machines tend to be task-specificand single-purpose. For example, a breadmaker is dedicated to makingbread, a rice cooker for cooking rice, a rotisserie for roasting, aregular oven or a microwave oven or a convection oven for eithergeneral-purpose or specific kind of baking, toasting and broiling, etc.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is a general object of the invention to provide a versatile foodappliance with updatable program control for replacing a plurality ofdedicated appliances.

It is another object of the invention to provide a food appliance with acoding system in which a new recipe or a premixed package of ingredientscan be associated with a predefined program.

It is another object of the invention to provide a food appliance havinga repertoire of programs capable of being updated in the field by auser.

It is another object of the invention to provide a new coding system fora program-controlled machine such as a breadmaker or other foodappliance which allows a user to select one from a larger number ofdifferent kind of products and to cause the machine to operateautomatically on a program appropriate for the selected product.

It is still another object of the invention to provide such a codingsystem with which the user is less likely to make an error in providingingredients for the specified product.

It is still another object of the invention to provide a versatile foodappliance capable of operating as a breadmaker or other dedicatedmachine and which is equipped with such an improved coding system.

It is still another object of the invention to provide a food appliancewhich can efficiently store a large number of programs.

An improved breadmaker embodying the present invention, with which theabove and other objects can be achieved, may be characterized as beinglike a prior art breadmaker comprising a baking chamber having a heatertherein, a baking pan adapted to receive ingredients therein and be setinside the baking chamber, a stirrer for stirring and kneading theingredient inside the baking pan and a motor for rotating the stirrer ina specified manner, and also comprising an air-circulating means such asa centrifugal fan for causing the air inside the baking chamber to moveupward through the fan and to circulate downward around the baking pan.

A coding system embodying the invention, with which the above and otherobjects can be accomplished, may be characterized as being associatedwith a machine adapted to carry out selectively any of a plurality oftasks according to a program and by using specific materials bothassociated with the selected task. An example of such machines is abreadmaker programmed to make different kinds of bread by usingdifferent mixtures of ingredients. Each of the products that can beobtained by such a machine is assigned a different code, and a table,serving as an indexing means, is provided to show what code has beenassigned to each of the products that can be made or processed by themachine, and a user specifies the product to be obtained or processed byinputting the corresponding code. The materials to be used by themachine for making a product of the specified kind or carrying out aspecified process may be provided in the form of a premixed package withthe corresponding code clearly printed thereon such that the user isspared of the trouble of mixing the required ingredientshimself/herself. The user may specify the code corresponding to thedesired product by directly forming it on numeric or alphanumeric keys,or by causing available codes to appear sequentially on a display deviceone by one and pressing a process-starting button when the codecorresponding to the desired product or process is displayed.

One feature of the invention allows a food appliance to run additionalnew programs outside its existing repertoire. This is accomplished byproviding facility for a user to transfer new programs to the foodappliance.

In one embodiment, the new programs or updates are transferred via astandard data port, such as a parallel port, or a serial port, or aninfrared port provided with the food appliance.

In another embodiment, the new programs or updates are transferred via amemory port which is able to receive a removable memory card.

Another feature of the invention incorporates multiple functions into aversatile appliance operating under the control of programs which areupdatable. In this way, one versatile machine or appliance can replaceseveral dedicated machines. This is accomplished by incorporating in theversatile appliance the hardware components common to a plurality ofdedicated food machines.

An economy of scale is achieved since the different dedicated foodmachines have many components in common. When only the commondenominators of these components are included in the versatile foodappliance, duplication is avoided.

Another advantage is that with the multiple function capability of thefood appliance, there exists synergy and sophistication of processingthat are not possible in conventional dedicated appliances. Since theversatile food appliance is capable of a rich set of functionalities, itis particularly useful to provide the facility for programs updates evenafter the food appliance leaves the factory.

Another feature of the invention is to provide a food appliance runningprograms that allow portions thereof to be modified by a group ofparameters. This is accomplished by having the program executionresponsive to a group of process parameters. In this way, the repertoireof the food appliance may be greatly increased without havinginefficiently to store many similar programs which may only differ insome minor respect.

In one embodiment, a code from the coding system described above is usedto identify a given program operating with a given set of valuesassigned to an associated group of process parameters.

In another embodiment, a set of predetermined permutations of values forthe process parameters (i.e., a set of process parameter configurations)are coded. In this way, a user need only enter a program code to call upa desired program and enter a parameter code to specify a desiredprocess parameter configuration from the predetermined set.

In another embodiment, the group of process parameters can be specifiedby a user by entering a desired value for each process parameter. Forexample, all things being equal, the user can modify the duration ortemperature of one or more cycles of the program.

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form a part ofthis specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and,together with the description, serve to explain the principles of theinvention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a sectional side view of a breadmaker embodying the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic of a coding system embodying the invention asincorporated in a breadmaker;

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of the operation by the control means for thecoding system of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an example of display on the display device of FIG. 2 afterreset;

FIG. 5A illustrates one embodiment of the versatile food appliance withremovable memory;

FIG. 5B is a sectional view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 5A;

FIG. 6 is a schematic block diagram of the versatile food appliance,according to a preferred embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 7 illustrates another embodiment of the versatile food appliancewith removable memory;

FIG. 8 illustrates schematically an example lookup table for processparameter configurations; and

FIG. 9 illustrates a table where a single code represents onecombination of a parametric program and a process parameterconfiguration, according to a preferred embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 shows a breadmaker 15 embodying the present invention, includingcomponents which are commonly known with reference to prior artbreadmakers of a similar type. A baking chamber 50 containing anelectric heater 52 near the bottom is formed inside a housing structure54. The housing structure 54 is provided with a lid 56 which can beopened such that a baking pan 58 for receiving bread ingredients thereincan be removably set inside the baking chamber 50. Adjacent to butseparated by a chamber-separating wall 80 from the baking chamber 50inside the housing structure 54, there is a motor chamber 60 containinga stirrer motor 62, of which the drive shaft is in motion-communicatingrelationship with a stirrer drive shaft 64 through a belt 66 such thatstirrer blades (not shown) attached to the stirrer drive shaft 64 forstirring, kneading and mixing the contents of the baking pan 58 can berotated in a specified manner, such as alternately in the clockwise andcounter-clockwise directions, by activating the stirrer motor 62 in acontrolled manner.

The motor chamber 60 further contains therein a fan motor 68 for acentrifugal fan 70 which is inside the baking chamber 50 but isseparated from the baking pan 58 by a partition wall 72. The partitionwall 72 has upper windows 82 above the centrifugal fan 70 and a lowerinlet 84 below the centrifugal fan 70 such that, when the fan motor 68activates the centrifugal fan 70, the air which has been heated by theheater 52 is forced upward therethrough as shown by upwardly pointingarrows in FIG. 1 through the space between the partition wall 72 and thechamber-separating wall separating the baking chamber 50 from the motorchamber 60. The upwardly pushed hot air is forced to pass through theupper windows 82 towards the baking pan 58, flows downward around thebaking pan 58 as shown by downwardly pointing arrow in FIG. 1 and isthen sucked through the lower inlet 84 towards the centrifugal fan 70.Thus, the heated air inside the baking chamber 50 is caused to circulatetherein as shown by the arrows in FIG. 1 around the baking pan 58,instead of becoming discharged out of the baking chamber 50 as was thesituation with prior art breadmakers of this type. As a result, heat ismore efficiently utilized through convection by a breadmaker embodyingthe present invention such that up to 2.0 lbs of wheat bread and up to2.5 lbs of white bread can be baked with the amount of energy requiredto bake about 1.5 lbs of bread by a prior art bread maker of acomparable design. Because the forced air circulation according to thepresent invention has the favorable effect of making temperaturedistribution uniform through the baking pan 58, furthermore, tastierbread with improved texture can be obtained.

A coding system according to the present invention will be describednext as applied to a breadmaker such as the one described above withreference to FIG. 1, but it is applicable equally well to many otherkinds of program-controlled machines adapted to operate according to anyone of a plurality of programs which may each be associated with adifferent kind of product such as bread by receiving materials such asingredients required in the selected program.

FIG. 2 shows the breadmaker 15 schematically, as incorporating a codingsystem according to this invention, including a table 16, a memorydevice 17 which stores many programs and may be considered a part of acentral processing unit 18 serving as control means for controlling thegeneral operation of the breadmaker 15 as a whole by following any ofthese programs, and a control panel 25 provided with a display device 30such as a liquid crystal display and many switches and buttons as inputdevices including a STOP/RESET button 31, a COLOR button 32 for choosingbetween normal and light bread coloring, and a START button 33 forstarting a cycle of baking operations according to a selected program.An important feature of the invention is that the kinds of bread whichcan be baked or the processes which can be carried out by the breadmaker15 are each assigned a code, which is preferably numeric, but may alsobe alphabetic or alphanumeric. As a practical example, numerical codes“10”, “20” and “60” are assigned to represent not only “basic bread”,“whole wheat bread” and a process of “kneading”, respectively, but alsothe corresponding programs stored in the memory device 17 and intendedto be called through the control means 18 to control the operation ofthe breadmaker 15 for baking basic bread, baking whole wheat bread andcarrying out a predefined kneading process, respectively.

The table 16 is for showing to a user what code has been assigned toeach kind of bread or process that can be selected, for example, bylisting in one column all the codes which can be specified and inanother column the kinds of bread and processes corresponding to thecodes in the first column.

According to a preferred method of using the coding system describedabove, ingredients to be used for making each kind of bread listed inthe table 16 are made available in a premixed form in a package asschematically shown at 19. Each package is clearly marked with the coderepresenting the kind of bread to be baked or process to be carried out,that is, the program to be followed by the control means 18. This methodis advantageous because the possibility of making errors by the user canbe reduced when ingredients are poured into the baking pan 58 of thebreadmaker 15, and the user is spared of the trouble of preparing arequired mixture of ingredients.

Next, the process of selecting a kind of bread to be baked or a processto be carried out and specifying it by a code to the control means 18will be described with referenced to the flow chart of FIG. 3 as well asthe schematic of FIG. 2.

According to most practical embodiments of the invention, the programwhich is used most frequently, or believed to be used most frequently,is treated as the default program. Since the basic kind of bread withnormal coloring is usually selected most frequently, the program forbaking the basic bread is defined as the default program such that, whenthe STOP/RESET button 31 is pressed to reset the control means 18 (YESin Step S1), the code “10” corresponding to BASIC BREAD is automaticallyselected. Thus, after a reset, the display on the display device 30 willbe as shown in FIG. 4 (Step S2).

The control panel 25 is provided with an UP button 34 and a DOWN button35 for changing the specified-program. The codes which are assigned todifferent kinds of bread and processes are arranged in a sequence (in anascending order, for example, if the codes are numeric) such that,whenever the UP button 34 or the DOWN button 35 is pressed (YES in StepS3 or S5), the control means 18 selects the program corresponding to thenext code in the sequence in the forward or backward direction,respectively, and causes the new code corresponding to the newlyselected program to be displayed on the display device 30, as well asthe name of the corresponding kind of bread or process selected (Step S4or S6). Similarly, if the COLOR button is pressed (YES in Step S7), theselected color changes from normal to light or from light to normal, andthe display on the display device 30 also changes from NORMAL to LIGHT,or from LIGHT to NORMAL (Step S8). When one of the codes and the breadcolor (normal or light) have been selected and the START button 33 ispressed (YES in Step S9), the control means 18 begins to operate thebreadmaker 15 according to the selected one of the stored programs (StepS10).

As shown in FIG. 2, the control panel 25 is further provided with atimer button (TIMER) for entering the timer setting mode of operation toset a timer (not shown), a clock button (CLOCK) for entering the clocksetting mode of operation to set a clock (not shown), an hour button(HR) and a minute button (MIN) for respectively setting the hour and theminute in the timer and clock setting modes, and a set button (SET) forsetting the timer or the clock, as well as light emitting diodes markedTIMER, OPERATION and COMPLETE to show respectively that the control isin the timer setting mode, that the baking operation is going on andthat the baking operation has been completed. These and similar kinds ofbuttons and diodes have been in use with prior art breadmakers, andtheir functions are well known by the users.

Thus, they are illustrated in FIG. 2 but will not be described in anydetail herein.

The present invention was described above with reference to only a fewexamples. These examples are intended to be merely illustrative,however, and not limitative. Many modifications and variations arepossible on the disclosed examples. For example, the coding system ofthe present invention need not relate to a breadmaker, or more generallyto a food machine, but also to any program-controlled machine allowing auser to select one of a plurality of programs and operating on such aselected program by using a special material associated with theprogram. A particular coding method was illustrated above, but the codesneed not necessarily be arranged in a sequence such that they appear inthe display device one by one in that sequence, either in the forward orbackward direction, to allow the user to decide whether or not to selectthe one of the choices being displayed. The control panel may beprovided with numeric keys, or alphanumeric keys, to allow the user toform a numeric or alphanumeric code to directly call a desired program.

Versatile Appliance Having Updatable Programs

The coding system described above allows individual programs from arepertoire thereof previously preset into a machine to be efficientlyidentified and accessed. The other advantage is when a premixed packageof food ingredients is labeled with an appropriate code, the user canconveniently call up the correct process in the machine by simplyentering the code.

However, even with a large repertoire of programs preset into themachine at the time of manufacture, there may be occasions when a usermay want to use a new recipe or a new premixed package of foodingredients that requires a new program not found in the existingrepertoire of the machine.

One feature of the invention allows a machine or appliance to runadditional new programs outside its existing repertoire. This isaccomplished by providing facility for a user to transfer new programsto the appliance.

Another feature of the invention incorporates multiple functions into aversatile appliance operating under the control of programs which areupdatable. In this way, one versatile machine or appliance can replaceseveral dedicated machines.

FIG. 5A illustrates one embodiment of the versatile food appliance 115with removable memory. This embodiment has a housing 154 with afront-opening door 156. The housing encloses a food processing chamberwhich is accessible through the opened door. On the housing is a controlpanel 125 with display through which a user can interact with the foodappliance 115. In this example, the versatile food appliance is able tofunction as a toaster oven, a microwave oven and a breadmaker.

FIG. 5B is a sectional view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 5A. Achamber 150 is formed inside the housing structure 154. Inside thechamber is a pair of top and bottom electric heating elements 153, 155.Shelves or racks 157 are removably mounted in the chamber for supportingfood to be processed. The shelves are resting on supports 159 on thechamber walls. By selectively powering either top or bottom or bothheating elements 153, 155, the appliance can be made to function muchlike a toaster oven.

Adjacent to but separated by a chamber wall 180 from the chamber 150inside the housing structure 154 is a motor chamber 160. The motorchamber contains a centrifugal fan 170. The centrifugal fan 170 drawsair from the chamber through an inlet 182 near a bottom opening of thechamber wall 180 and blows it back into the chamber through an outlet184 near a top opening of the chamber wall 180. When the centrifugal fan170 is operating in combination with the heating elements 153, 159 thefood appliance is functioning as a convention oven.

Between the top wall 151 of the chamber and the housing structure isoptionally a magnetron 161 for providing a microwave source which isemanating into the chamber via a port from the top wall 151. The motorchamber 160 further contains a drive motor 162, of which the motor shiftis in motion-communicating relationship, by means of a drive belt 166,with a drive shaft 164 extending into the chamber through the bottomchamber wall. A turntable is removably mounted on the drive shift, suchas food placed on the turntable can be rotated in a specified manner, byactivating the drive motor 162 in a controlled manner. When themagnetron operates in combination with the turntable, the food applianceis functioning as a microwave oven.

Alternatively, a bread pan 158 for receiving bread ingredients thereincan be removably set inside the chamber 150, with a stirrer blade insidethe bread pan engaged with the drive shift 164. Thus, bread makingingredients received in the bread pan can be stirred, kneaded and mixedthrough the action of the stirrer blade driven by the drive shift. Inthis way, the food appliance is functioning as a breadmaker.

It can be seen that the versatile food appliance is capable of operatinglike different dedicated food machines.

FIG. 6 is a schematic block diagram of the versatile food appliance,according to a preferred embodiment of the invention. Essentially, theversatile food appliance 115 comprises a plurality of hardwarecomponents controlled by an appliance controller 200.

The plurality of hardware components, depending on configurations, mayinclude one or more motor drives 210. For example, in a microwave ovenmode of operation, one of the motors is used to drive a turntable sothat food supported thereon can get a more even microwave exposure. In arotisserie mode of operation, one of the motor drives is used to rotatea rack so that food mounted thereon may be heated more evenly on allsides when exposed to localized heating elements. In a breadmaking modeof operation, one of the motor drives is used to turn a mixing andkneading blade inside a baking pan, as described in an earlier section.

Similarly, the plurality of hardware components, depending onconfigurations, may include one or more heater elements 212, such as theheater elements 153, 155 shown in FIG. 5B. These heater elements may beturned on individually or in combination in order to perform broiling,toasting, baking, self-cleaning etc.

When the food appliance includes a pan for receiving food ingredients,the heater elements enable it to operating in a slow cookingmode-similar to that of a crockpot. When the pan is partially filledwith water and food is support above the water, the food appliance isable to operate as a steamer.

Similarly, the plurality of hardware components, depending onconfigurations, may include a magnetron 214, such as the magnetron 161shown in FIG. 5B. In a microwave oven mode of operation, the magnetronis used to produce microwave heating in the chamber.

Similarly, the plurality of hardware components, depending onconfigurations, may include one or more fans 216, such as thecentrifugal fan 170 shown in FIG. 5B. For example, in a convention ovenmode or in a breadmaking mode of operation, the fan is used to circulatehot air in the chamber.

Similarly, the plurality of hardware components, depending onconfigurations, may include one or more solenoids 218. The solenoids aregenerally used to open or close valves or vents, and to actuate variousmechanical contraptions.

Similarly, the plurality of hardware components, depending onconfigurations, may include other electromechanical transducer 220. U.S.Patent application, “Breadmaker With Improved Temperature and HumidityControl”, filed on the same day as the present application, by Simon K.C. Yung, is incorporated herein by reference. The incorporateddisclosure describes improved temperature and humidity control in whichan ultrasonic humidifier is a component inside the breadmaking chamber.

The plurality of hardware components is controlled by a hardware controlunit 240. A power supply 230 provides electric power to the plurality ofhardware components under the control of the hardware control unit 240.Although, FIG. 6 shows a number of specific hardware components, it willbe understood that various hardware components are optionallyimplemented. Other hardware components not shown are also contemplated.On the other hand, not all shown hardware components need be implementedat the same time.

The intelligence of the appliance controller is provided by amicroprocessor 250 executing codes and programs that are stored in anon-volatile memory (NVM) 252 and a random-access memory (RAM) 254. Themicroprocessor, the NVM and the RAM are in communication with each othervia a bus (not shown). In one embodiment, the NVM is in the form of aread-only memory (ROM). It stores firmware and a preset repertoire ofprograms that were initially shipped with the appliance. In anotherembodiment, the NVM is in the form of EEPROM or flash EEPROM memorywhich essentially provides rewritable mass storage. The RAM is typicallyused as a scratch patch memory when the microprocessor executes aprogram.

Another special feature of the present invention is the provision forupdating the repertoire of programs in the appliance. This isaccomplished by the ability to interchange data with the appliancecontroller.

In one embodiment, the new programs are transferred via a memory portwhich is able to receive a removable memory card that a user can pluginto the appliance.

The appliance optionally includes a non-volatile memory interface 260that interfaces with the microprocessor 250 on one hand and with aremovable memory card 264 via a card connector 262 on the other hand.The memory card 264 is a non-volatile memory such as ROM, EPROM, EEPROMor preferably one of the standardized flash memory cards currently beingintroduced in other consumer products such as in digital still cameras,digital voice recorders and cellular, phones and handheld devices. Otherpossible non-volatile memories include magnetic and optical disks.

Since the removably memory cards are portable from host to host and arebecoming standardized, they can be used to exchange data easily betweena variety of hosts. For example, new or updated programs for theappliance may be created by the manufacturer or other developers anddistributed on a ROM or flash memory card to the consumer. A new breadrecipe embodied in a premixed package of ingredients may come with a newbreadmaking program stored in a flash memory card or a floppy. In thelatter case, the program on the floppy may be transferred to a flashcard by means of a personal computer (PC). Alternatively, the programscould be downloaded from a website by the consumer and saved onto aflash card plugged into a PC. Then the flash card is moved to thegeneral-purpose appliance to update or augment the existing programstherein.

In another embodiment, the updating of the repertoire of programs in theappliance is accomplished via a standard data port 295, such as aparallel port or a serial port or an infrared port provided on the foodappliance.

The microprocessor 250 is in communication with the hardware controlunit 240 via a digital interface 242 coupled to an internal bus 270 ofthe Appliance controller. The digital interface 242 provides conversionsbetween analog and digital signals and enables the microprocessor tocontrol the hardware control unit 240.

One or more sensors 280 provide detection of various conditionsassociated with the operation of the appliance. The signals from suchsensors are received into the hardware control unit 240. In oneembodiment, the signals are fed into a local servo circuit which is useddirectly to control some of the plurality of hardware components. Inanother embodiment, the signals are made available via the digitalinterface on the internal bus 270. The microprocessor 250 is then ableto monitor the sensor signals and take appropriate actions accordingly.

An input/output (I/O) interface 290 is also in communication with themicroprocessor 250 via the internal bus 270. The I/O interface allowsone or more peripheral devices to interact with the appliance controller200 and more particularly with the microprocessor 250. In the preferredembodiment, one such peripheral device is a display and input unit 292such as the control panel 190 shown in FIG. 5B.

In another embodiment, the peripheral devices are externally connectableto the appliance and include a television 294 which can be used todisplay multimedia information. For example, a premixed package ofingredients may include a memory card that, given sufficient memory,stores a program for running the appliance plus a multimedia file whichis a video clip giving cooking instructions for the particular package.

In another embodiment the peripheral devices externally connectable tothe appliance include a personal computer 296 which is preferablyconnected via the standard interface 295 which is either a parallel portor a serial port to the I/O interface 290. This allows for multimediafiles to be played back as well as for even more flexible exchange ofdata and control.

FIG. 7 illustrates another embodiment of the versatile food appliance115 with removable memory. This embodiment is essentially similar tothat shown in FIG. 5A except it has a taller form factor. It has ahousing 154 with a top-opening door 156. The housing encloses a foodprocessing chamber which is accessible through the opened door. On thehousing is a control panel 125 with display through which a user caninteract with the food appliance 115. The taller form factor lendsitself to accept a baking pan with its long axis vertical and engaged toa vertical drive shift at the bottom of the chamber, much like that of aconventional breadmaker. When the appliance operates in rotisserie mode,the baking pan is replaced by a rotisserie rack engaged on the verticaldrive shift. In this case, the heating element is preferably a lineelement running vertically along a wall of the chamber.

The improved food appliance may be a versatile, multi purpose foodmachine depending on the program it is running. Its basic functions caninclude radiant heating, microwave heating, mechanical mixing andturning, and combination thereof. For example, the improved foodappliance is programmable to act as any number of standalone machinessuch as a breadmaker, various type of oven, a rice-cooker, among others.Although the food appliance has been described with a multitude ofoptional hardware components, not all components need be implemented atthe same time. Similarly, even a number of peripheral devices are shown,not all peripheral connections need be implemented at the same time.

Coding System for Process Parameters

Another feature of the invention is to provide a food appliance thatallows the process it is running to be modifiable by a group ofparameters. Many of the processes run by a food appliance are similarand only differ in some portions of the process, the variation beingdefinable by a group of process parameters. For example, two processesmay differ by the duration or temperature in one cycle thereof.

This feature of the invention is accomplished by setting up programs inparametric form where the parametric program executes its processresponsive to a process parameter configuration, i.e., values assignedto a predetermined group of process parameters. In this way, therepertoire of the food appliance is greatly increased without having tostore many similar programs.

In one embodiment, the process parameter configuration can be specifiedby a user by entering the values for each of the parameters directly viathe food appliance input device. For example, the user can modify theduration or temperature of one or more cycles of the program. The inputvalues are stored in a set of registers in the appliance controller.When a program is being executed by the food appliance, it referencesthe registers to configure corresponding program variables.

In a preferred embodiment, the coding scheme described earlier forprogram identification and indexing can also be used to do the same foridentifying and indexing any number of process parameter configurations.A lookup table in memory stores a plurality of process parameterconfigurations and their associated codes and indices.

FIG. 8 illustrates schematically an example lookup table 316 for processparameter configurations. A group of process parameters may be given by(cycle number, temperature, duration, . . . ) A process parameterconfiguration is defined when all the parameters in the group areassigned definite values. A parameter code is assigned to eachpredetermined process parameter configurations. For example, theparameter code 520 is assigned to the process parameter configuration(5, 120, 20, . . . ), the parameter code 540 to (5, 140, 20, . . . ),etc. Thus, the parameter configuration lookup table 316 contains codedindexed entries of process parameter configurations. Each entry mayoptionally contain additional information associated with theconfiguration, such as a description of the configuration. Similar tothe table 16 shown in FIG. 2, the additional information may be shown onthe display of the food appliance for the user's convenience.

In this way, a desired process to run on the food appliance is selectedwhen its associated parametric program is called up by its program code,and the associated process parameter configuration for the program iscalled up by its parameter code.

FIG. 9 illustrates a table 16′ using a single code to represent onecombination of a parametric program and a process parameterconfiguration, according to a preferred embodiment. The table 16′ issimilar in structure to the table 16 shown in FIG. 2. The single codemay be formed by a concatenation of the program code and a parametercode.

In a system including a food appliance and a plurality of packagedingredients, an appropriate code or set of codes may be marked on eachpackage of ingredients, similar to what has been described earlier sothat the same code may be entered into the food appliance to call up theappropriate program and process parameter configuration to process theingredients.

While the embodiments of the various aspects of the present inventionthat have been described are the preferred implementations, thoseskilled in the art will understand that variation thereof may also bepossible. The device and method described therein are applicable to aversatile food appliance that is capable of using updatable programs tooperate the appliance in a variety of modes normally availableindividually through conventional dedicated food appliances. Therefore,the invention is entitled to protection within the full scope of theappended claims.

It is claimed:
 1. A food appliance, comprising: a chamber for processingfood therein; one or more food processing functional units inside saidchamber; a controller for controlling operations of said one or morefood processing functional units; a first memory for storing arepertoire of preprogrammed processes; an input for receiving input datainto said food appliance, including data designating a preprogrammedprocess among said repertoire of preprogrammed processes; control meansfor operating said controller according to the designated preprogrammedprocess; and a port for updating said repertoire of preprogrammedprocesses with one or more additional preprogrammed processes.
 2. A foodappliance as in 1, wherein said one or more food processing functionalunits include a radiant heater.
 3. A food appliance as in 1, whereinsaid one or more food processing functional units include a microwaveheater.
 4. A food appliance as in 1, wherein said one or more foodprocessing functional units include a mechanical actuator.
 5. A foodappliance as in 1, wherein said port is a memory port connectable to aremovable memory.
 6. A food appliance as in 1, wherein said port is adata port connectable to a data source.
 7. A food appliance as in 1,wherein said one or more additional preprogrammed processes areobtainable from said removable memory.
 8. A food appliance as in 1,wherein said one or more additional preprogrammed processes areobtainable from a website.
 9. A food appliance as in 5, wherein saidremovable memory includes read only memory.
 10. A food appliance as in5, wherein said removable memory includes EPROM.
 11. A food appliance asin 5, wherein said removable memory includes EEPROM.
 12. A foodappliance as in 5, wherein said removable memory includes flash EEPROM.13. A food appliance as in 5, wherein said removable memory includes amagnetic storage medium.
 14. A food appliance as in 5, wherein saidremovable memory includes an optical storage medium.
 15. A foodappliance as in anyone of 1-14, further comprising: a pan inside saidchamber for receiving ingredients therein.
 16. A food appliance as inanyone of 1-14, further comprising: a rack inside said chamber forsupporting the food being processed.
 17. A food appliance as in anyoneof 1-14, further comprising: a magnetron for providing microwave heatingin said chamber.
 18. A food appliance as in anyone of 1-14, including apreprogrammed process that operates said food appliance in a bakingmode.
 19. A food appliance as in anyone of 1-14, including apreprogrammed process that operates said food appliance in a broilingmode.
 20. A food appliance as in anyone of 1-14, including apreprogrammed process that operates said food appliance in a toastingmode.
 21. A food appliance as in anyone of 1-14, including apreprogrammed process that operates said food appliance in a microwaveheating mode.
 22. A food appliance as in anyone of 1-14, including apreprogrammed process operates said food appliance as a rotisserie. 23.A food appliance as in anyone of 1-14, including a preprogrammed processthat operates said food appliance as a breadmaker.
 24. A food applianceas in anyone of 1-14, including a preprogrammed process that operatessaid food appliance as a rice cooker.
 25. A food appliance as in anyoneof 1-14, including a preprogrammed process that operates said foodappliance as a slow cooker.
 26. A food appliance as in anyone of 1-14,including a preprogrammed process that operates said food appliance as asteamer.
 27. A food appliance as in anyone of 1-14, including apreprogrammed process that operates said food appliance in a high-heat,self-cleaning mode.
 28. A food appliance as in anyone of 1-14, includingan input/output interface for one or more peripheral devices to operatewith the food appliance.
 29. A food appliance as in 28, wherein said oneor more peripheral devices include a multimedia system.
 30. A foodappliance as in 29, wherein said multimedia system include a personalcomputer.
 31. A food appliance as in 29, wherein said multimedia systeminclude a television.